Chasing Comets
Chasing Comets is a philosophical science fiction novel by Australian author Philip Graham, scheduled to be released by Sarasota Square. The story is centred around an anonymous "traveller", as he journeys through the solar system after deciding to "escape" Earth to travel the stars. Written in the first person perspective of the traveller, the novel follows him along his journey throughout space as he visits planets, asteroids and comets while he reflects on his past life on Earth. Inspired by the Rosetta mission and based on Graham's original pitch for Writing Club project The Traveller, Chasing Comets delves into escapism and related ideas associated with depression and presents the idea of exploration and a nomadic lifestyle as a suicide alternative. Throughout the novel, however, the traveller is reminded of home, with the character growing feelings of homesickness and a longing to return to his friends and family as the story progresses. Written in a journalistic fashion, the novella makes numerous parallels with Philip Graham's life, with the novel itself being mostly an exploration by Graham through his own life and experiences and stemmed from Graham's fantasies of travelling through space. The first drafts for Chasing Comets were written in October and November, shortly after The Traveller was handed off by Graham to fellow author and close friend Mitchell Cheung. Originally developed as a short novella, co-developed alongside the historical fiction epic Storm Versailles, the story gradually became a larger project, turnign into a novel that is due to be finished and released within four years. Synopsis 'Characters' *'"The Traveller"' - the narrator of the story. He appears as one fo only two characters throughout the traveller's journey through space. He is an emotionally distressed person who wishes to leave behind Earth for a better, more simpler life in the cosmos. With that, he leaves behind not only his problems and failures in life, but his friends and family as well. While he originally contemplated suicide, he sought exploration as an alternative, choosing, nonetheless, to essentially throw his life away. He finds a more calming and more free life away from Earth, describing his journey with his talent for creative writing, but also expresses a growing regret in leaving behind the people that supported him. *'"The Angel"' - a man who, on Earth, was the best friend and source of advice and direction for the Traveller. He joins the Traveller in his journey across space when he unexpectedly comes across him at Jupiter. While, back on Earth, the Angel harbours a willingness to leave the Traveller behind and live his own life after being his friend for years, during the journey through space, he is very fond of him and shows the same compassion and enthusiasim for him like he did when they first became friends. 'Setting' 'Plot' Background '' mission. (Pictured: Rosetta's "selfie", taken 16km from the surface of 67P/Churyumov–Gerasimenko)]] Chasing Comets as a whole is based on the template of The Traveller, a novel originally planned to be written by members of the Sydney Technical High School Writing Club. The novel, however, was dropped due to complicated circumstances. Graham, who had originally pitched The Traveller for the Writing Club, had written the novel's original opening chapter before it was subsequently dropped. The novel was to be centred around an unnamed protagonist who leaves home in search for a better life. The idea for The Traveller was carried on by Graham after close friend Mitchell Cheung had adopted The Traveller for himself. Graham chose to adapt the original story into a science fiction setting, after being inspired by the Rosetta mission and its discoveries at 67P/Churyumov–Gerasimenko, which had gained mainstream attention by the time Chasing Comets was first drafted. The story originally stemmed from the idea of a man who visits Churyumov–Gerasimenko and stays there for a few months as an escape from the problems he has at home on Earth. Graham had initally adopted this story and written a chapter for this particluar storyline, before changing the story to include what essentially was a tour of the solar system. The novella, which Graham considers a "spiritual successor" to The Traveller, centres entirely around a singular character travelling the solar system, rather than a character travelling across a country meeting different people as was the case in The Traveller. Promotion Chapters References Category:Browse